Introspective
by Iori-chan-sempai
Summary: Vague one-sided Jin x Ragna. Ragna can remember the past, but it doesn't change the present. Written for 1sentence.


#01 - Motion  
Even as Jin's sword bites into his torso, Ragna can't help but notice how beautifully, _dangerously_, Jin moves-- so unlike the awkward boy that he remembers from their youth.

#02 - Cool  
Jin smiles the second he sees his brother's sight linger on him-- his face and body, not his legs or blade; it makes him feel good, like he's worthy of Ragna's attention and has finally gained value in the world.

#03 - Young  
Something in Ragna's stomach clenches uncomfortably when he thinks it: _Your little brother has grown up and you weren't even there to witness it._

#04 - Last  
Honestly, such a thing shouldn't phase him; he has to hurt Jin, kill him even--God knows that he should, and would even forgive him afterward, but the melancholy doesn't fade for a second.

#05 - Wrong  
"What's wrong, Nii-san?" Jin asks teasingly, his green eyes glowing with a playful light, as though they were kids again, and their blades weren't more than broken sticks.

#06 - Gentle  
Ragna remembers a time when Jin would hide behind him, clutching at the back of his t-shirt and whimpering about strange noises, all simply to share Ragna's bed.

#07 - One  
It's funny: a single day ago, Ragna had been sure he would be able to kill Jin if it was necessary.

#08 - Thousand  
Now the only thing he can process are the memories flooding his mind, and the only thing Ragna can do is evade his attacks-- just barely, and Jin _knows_.

#09 - King  
"The person with a three has to give the king a kiss," Jin declares zealously, and frowns, eyes flickering to his older brother, when Saya giggles and reveals her stick with the number on it.

#10 - Learn  
After the game is over, Ragna tucks his two siblings into bed and, when Jin says, "Hey... Nii-san..." lets out an entirely superficial sigh before pressing a kiss to Jin's forehead.

#11 - Blur  
He's in the present again, caught too off guard to evade the dagger made of ice heading toward his leg-- he gasps aloud with pain, and cold crawls up his veins until he can't move.

#12 - Wait  
"Don't move from here, Jin," Ragna says, absoluely furious with him this time, so much so that Jin doesn't say anything other than "I'm sorry," again and again, but his tears don't spill down his cheeks until Ragna turns his back.

#13 - Change  
Jin doesn't dare to disobey and even though his stomach growls, all he can think about his brother's angry glare; only when sun is high over head does he give in to the urge to take a seat.

#14 - Command  
Ragna is honestly horrified with himself when he returns over 12 hours later, after taking Saya to be seen by a doctor-- Jin is so stupid, so foolish and willing to please that he should have _known_ Jin would still be sitting in the shade of the oak tree right where Ragna left him.

#15 - Hold  
Jin doesn't yell at him or cry when Ragna pulls him into his arms-- no, Jin only hugs him back fiercely and says in a tiny voice, "I was really scared, Nii-san... that you'd never come back."

#16 - Need  
And then there are icy fingers around his throat, closing tighter until he only has enough to air to gasp Jin's name as he struggles, never taking his eyes off of his face.

#17 - Vision  
"You see it, don't you?" the old lady he's come to think of as an aunt says one day, while they are washing dishes, "The way he looks at you?"

#18 - Attention  
"What are you talking about?" is what Ragna says, but the plate he's drying slips from his hands, hitting the ground with a loud crash; he cuts himself a dozen times on the fragments and she never asks him again.

#19 - Soul  
Occasionally, however, he hears her murmuring quietly that Jin is surely damned, something that makes Ragna start to question how far he himself is from salvation.

#20 - Picture  
Ragna falls to the floor to catch his breath after Jin lets go of his neck-- the glowering expression, anger wreathed in disappointment, is one of the things about him that hasn't changed in seven years.

#21 - Fool  
"You'll die," Jin says, so gravely that Ragna can only begin to laugh in response.

#22 - Mad  
The indignant flush that comes over Jin's cheeks is just as reminiscent--Jin is twelve and fuming, with his fingers in Ragna's shirt, "Nii-san! Don't laugh at me!"

#23 - Child  
Jin's eyes flash, as if he knows exactly what Ragna is thinking, and he says, "I'm not a kid anymore, Nii-san."

#24 - Now  
"I know, Jin," Ragna replies, a half-smile appearing in his laughter's absence, "You're finally all grown up."

#25 - Shadow  
Jin seems to falter at those words; he swallows slowly, ignoring the lump in his throat as Ragna stands up; when he lets out, "Nii-san..." in a bare, trembling whisper, Ragna thinks he sees his eyes growing misty, but Jin does not put down his sword.

#26 - Goodbye  
Jin doesn't know what to think about initially, whether this would be the end or the beginning for them, the past or the future, or if he should really be thinking right now instead of _feeling_.

#27 - Hide  
Jin remembers things too, like hours of sitting inside of a closet when Saya goes missing, sending Mom and Dad and Ragna into a panic, and it's as though he doesn't even exist.

#28 - Fortune  
Just when he's reached the depths of despair, his brother opens the door and sighs in relief, before saying, "There you are, Jin," as he smiles, "I was looking for you."

#29 - Safe  
Within seconds, Jin is in Ragna's arms, crying into his stomach as Ragna stands there, clueless and confused but rubbing his back soothingly despite.

#30 - Ghost  
Ragna moves as though he's gotten his strength back from their simple exchange, the same strength that has been drained from Jin; in a moment of weakness, he takes everything in again, the sudden shock of white hair, that single red eye and thinks, _Nii-san, you've grown, too_.

#31 - Book  
Jin does not have the skill to be an artist, doesn't have the eye for detail or patience necessary for it, but he frequently finds himself pouring over a sketchpad during his free time while enrolled in the academy.

#32 - Eye  
"Nii-sama, you didn't tell me that you could draw!" Tsubaki says one day, looking over his shoulder and into the eyes of a portrait, deep green-- the only part that is colored.

#33 - Never  
"I can't draw anything but him," Jin tells her and, after she asks who it is, says that it's a man he sees often in his dreams.

#34 - Sing  
Their blades meet with such a shrill noise that it brings him back--_forward_-- sends him reeling, urgently trying to find his place again and wondering if this was what Ragna had been feeling moments ago; just the possibility of sharing his brother's emotions makes him giddy.

#35 - Sudden  
The snap of the branch is so loud that it almost makes Jin lose his footing, but it isn't until he hears the sickly thump that he realizes what has happened; his eyes grow wide when he sees Saya face down at the foot of the tree, and a small but growing red stain on her dress.

#36 - Stop  
"N-nii-san, I know you said not to, but, but Saya said she really wanted to try and--" Jin babbles nervously when Ragna approaches him, but the look in his eyes makes Jin end the stream of excuses, turn his eyes to the ground and start to fervently apologize.

#37 - Time  
Jin waits for what feels like forever that day, and is rewarded when Ragna hugs him tightly and says, "I'm sorry, Jin, I'll never leave you again."

#38 - Wash  
It doesn't hold up.

#39 - Torn  
It would have be easier, Jin realizes, if he could take a page from Ragna and never think about it-- the pain of having such a promise intentionally broken would be severe, yes, but to have it completely forgotten, that_, _is surely fatal.

#40 - History  
"I always meant it, you know," Jin says suddenly, because, just maybe, Ragna omitted that too, or maybe he never noticed in the first place, "Even when I was young, I meant it from the bottom of my heart when I said that I loved you."

#41 - Power  
Ragna knows, always has, has never forgotten, but he doesn't let anything, especially not the impact of those words, show on his face.

#42 - Bother  
"But I suppose I was nothing more than, a brat, to you," Jin says, smiling softly, sadly, the only kind that he could look beautiful wearing--that in itself is distressing-- but Ragna ignores the pain in his chest as he charges straight forward, ready to destroy the only thing left that belongs to him, that he belongs to.

#43 - God  
He stands over Jin's wounded body, looking at him, bloodied and injured, not enough to die, of course, because Ragna must deliver the killing blow in full awareness-- it's a test; Ragna raises his blade high, shuts his eyes to hold back the tears, and says, "Forgive me."

#44 - Wall  
Even though he is the only one able, the only one who should put an end to it all, finally, when Jin looks up at him, smiling, accepting any sort of punishment and pain his brother is willing to give him, his sword stops its decent and Ragna curses himself over and over again.

#45 - Naked  
A brief moment of silent passes between them after Ragna pulls away which Jin finally breaks, sounding young and uncertain again, "Hey, Nii-san... would it be different if I called you Ragna?"

#46 - Drive  
"What's the point?" Ragna mutters, putting his sword back on his hip, "It isn't that easy to forget that we're brothers, Jin."

#47 - Harm  
Jin closes his eyes as his face eases back into that terrible smile, and when he says, "How is it that you can forget everything else important, but not let go of the things that don't really matter?" it's clear that Jin thinks Saya is one of those things.

#48 - Precious  
It's so stupid, how Jin is still his little brother and will always be so, how he could murder those not guilty and hate those not responsible and still be _loved_, despite everything; Ragna says sternly, "Don't move from this spot."

#49 - Hunger  
It isn't fair, that Ragna is his older brother and will always be so, that no matter how much he needed him, how much he loved him, it would be seen as _wrong_, despite everything; Jin laughs, "What makes you think I'll listen to you?"

#50 - Believe  
"Because I'll be coming back," Ragna says, but once Jin can no longer hear his footsteps echoing, he struggles to his feet and follows Ragna as quickly as possible, thinking, _But Nii-san... you've always been a liar_.


End file.
